Just the Numbers- 2 lbs a week. Please Help!

cnpurdy
cnpurdy Posts: 1
edited October 2 in Health and Weight Loss
I've not been losing weight as quickly as I've hoped. I mess up a little bit here and there but try to always stay around the 1200 calorie mark. This morning I checked my BMR and noticed it had gone down a little bit. My BMR (according to MFP) is 1,541 calories a day. I am 26, female, 5'3'' and 183 pounds (which I am trying to lower... desperately!) I started crunching the numbers and realized that to lose 2 lbs a week without exercising I'd have to eat only 541 calories a day!!! Of course exercising is a big part of losing weight and I try and give about an hour a day to exercise.
I do not have a gym membership and I'm not a runner. For me I walk and I ride my bike. I average burning about 400-450 calories a day when I exercise. I try and let myself have 1 day a week where I don't exercise or I only exercise lightly. Let's say I burn 400 calories of exercise 6 days in a week. Here are the numbers:
BMR: 1541 X 7's days in a week = 10787 calories
Week BMR 10787 - 7000 calories (losing 2 lbs a week) = 3787 calories (weekly amount to lose 2 lbs with no exercise.)
400 calories burned in exercise X 6 days a week = 2400 calories
2400 calories burned + 3787 calories of BMR (- 2 lbs a week) = 6187 calories allowed to consume in a week
6187 calories / 7 days in a week = 884 calories (rounded up)

How is this possible???
I typically eat 1200 calories a day. At this rate I'm losing around 1.3 pounds a week which is pretty much on target with the numbers. How could I lose 2 lbs a week and not be starving my body by being under 1200 calories a day?

Thanks For the Help,

-Casey

Replies

  • kgschel
    kgschel Posts: 9
    I didn't actually double check your numbers but the calculations you show look right. Losing 2lb a week is at the upper limit of what many experts think is a safe rate of weight loss--more than this and you start to burn protein from your muscles. I'd be happy with your current rate of 1.3 lbs/week--that is safe and sustainable. Remember you probably didn't gain the extra weight as fast as 2 lbs per week, and it takes time and patience to burn it off too.
  • meli_medina
    meli_medina Posts: 594 Member
    At 183 pounds, depending on your height of course, 2 pounds per week is probably too aggressive a goal per week. You didn't gain this weight overnight and you will not lose it overnight, either.

    What is your daily activity? Your BMR is calculated to be the base line of calories your body would need to do nothing - meaning to lay in bed all day, which I'm sure you don't do.

    I started out at 184.5 pounds and set my goal to lose 1 pound per week. I am lightly active most days and my base calories at that weight were about 1500 per day (that's MFP's recommended with my activity level. At maintenance, I need ~1900 calories at my current weight of 161 pounds). I would say eat more, to be honest. You don't want to starve yourself thin, and the "quick fixes" are the ones that are the hardest to stick to and maintain for any length of time (you are pretty much starving your body, which will make you more likely to binge, etc.)

    I don't know how you live on 1200 calories per day! At 1400, I feel hungry ALL the time.

    Again, my advice is to slow down and make good changes that will last longer. You'll find better success that way. :)
  • hooma
    hooma Posts: 124 Member
    Your BMR is just how many calories you need every day to lie in bed and sleep all day - the "maintenance level" which includes you walking around and living a sedentary lifestyle (or active, depending) is probably 300-500 calories above your BMR. Ask MFP to calculate how many calories you need to maintain your current weight, and subtract 750 calories from that to lose 2 lbs/week. Or, ask MFP to calculate how many calories you need to lose 2 lbs/week, and it should give you the same number.

    I just went through the same thing where I realized that my BMR is only 1,600 calories a day and was like, I shouldn't be eating 1,200, I should be eating 850! But I was wrong :)
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    I've not been losing weight as quickly as I've hoped. I mess up a little bit here and there but try to always stay around the 1200 calorie mark. This morning I checked my BMR and noticed it had gone down a little bit. My BMR (according to MFP) is 1,541 calories a day. I am 26, female, 5'3'' and 183 pounds (which I am trying to lower... desperately!) I started crunching the numbers and realized that to lose 2 lbs a week without exercising I'd have to eat only 541 calories a day!!! Of course exercising is a big part of losing weight and I try and give about an hour a day to exercise.
    I do not have a gym membership and I'm not a runner. For me I walk and I ride my bike. I average burning about 400-450 calories a day when I exercise. I try and let myself have 1 day a week where I don't exercise or I only exercise lightly. Let's say I burn 400 calories of exercise 6 days in a week. Here are the numbers:
    BMR: 1541 X 7's days in a week = 10787 calories
    Week BMR 10787 - 7000 calories (losing 2 lbs a week) = 3787 calories (weekly amount to lose 2 lbs with no exercise.)
    400 calories burned in exercise X 6 days a week = 2400 calories
    2400 calories burned + 3787 calories of BMR (- 2 lbs a week) = 6187 calories allowed to consume in a week
    6187 calories / 7 days in a week = 884 calories (rounded up)

    How is this possible???
    I typically eat 1200 calories a day. At this rate I'm losing around 1.3 pounds a week which is pretty much on target with the numbers. How could I lose 2 lbs a week and not be starving my body by being under 1200 calories a day?

    Thanks For the Help,

    -Casey
    Sounds like you aren't eating nearly enough. If you're netting under 1200 a day, that's not enough. If you burn 400 calories a day for exercise, you should be eating 1600 calories a day. What's your activity level? If 1541 calories includes your activity level, then losing 2 pounds a week is NOT realistic (it isn't realistic for most people, to be fair.)
  • 24rams
    24rams Posts: 1
    I've been losing 3 lbs a week but I have had to keep my calories at 800 which I have been told is bad to do. I have lost 21 lbs in the last 6 weeks, I started at 180 lbs, I cut out all sodas, junk food and fast food. I also use hydroxycut hardcore elite, I have 30 lbs to go. I know that your numbers are right so sadly without excercise you have to cut the calories down. All web sites say not to go bellow 1200 calories but I want this weight off now so I chose not to listen and reduce bellow that number.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    I've been losing 3 lbs a week but I have had to keep my calories at 800 which I have been told is bad to do. I have lost 21 lbs in the last 6 weeks, I started at 180 lbs, I cut out all sodas, junk food and fast food. I also use hydroxycut hardcore elite, I have 30 lbs to go. I know that your numbers are right so sadly without excercise you have to cut the calories down. All web sites say not to go bellow 1200 calories but I want this weight off now so I chose not to listen and reduce bellow that number.
    That's your choice, just know that it will come back once you get off the drug and try to eat normally again. There's a reason for not going that low. You can choose to ignore it if you like, but you will have to suffer the consequences, which are regaining the weight plus more, which is the definition of yoyo dieting.
  • ecw3780
    ecw3780 Posts: 608 Member
    I've not been losing weight as quickly as I've hoped. I mess up a little bit here and there but try to always stay around the 1200 calorie mark. This morning I checked my BMR and noticed it had gone down a little bit. My BMR (according to MFP) is 1,541 calories a day. I am 26, female, 5'3'' and 183 pounds (which I am trying to lower... desperately!) I started crunching the numbers and realized that to lose 2 lbs a week without exercising I'd have to eat only 541 calories a day!!! Of course exercising is a big part of losing weight and I try and give about an hour a day to exercise.
    I do not have a gym membership and I'm not a runner. For me I walk and I ride my bike. I average burning about 400-450 calories a day when I exercise. I try and let myself have 1 day a week where I don't exercise or I only exercise lightly. Let's say I burn 400 calories of exercise 6 days in a week. Here are the numbers:
    BMR: 1541 X 7's days in a week = 10787 calories
    Week BMR 10787 - 7000 calories (losing 2 lbs a week) = 3787 calories (weekly amount to lose 2 lbs with no exercise.)
    400 calories burned in exercise X 6 days a week = 2400 calories
    2400 calories burned + 3787 calories of BMR (- 2 lbs a week) = 6187 calories allowed to consume in a week
    6187 calories / 7 days in a week = 884 calories (rounded up)

    How is this possible???
    I typically eat 1200 calories a day. At this rate I'm losing around 1.3 pounds a week which is pretty much on target with the numbers. How could I lose 2 lbs a week and not be starving my body by being under 1200 calories a day?

    Thanks For the Help,

    -Casey

    In a nut shell- you cant. I am the same way. Change your goals to 1 pound a week, and just accept that people like us aren't fat enough or tall enough for a 2 pound per week weight loss. I spent a year trying to make it happen, plateaued, and finally gave in and changed it to 1 pound a week. I know it is frustrating, but in general, people who lose the weight and keep it off tend to do it with a 1 pound per week loss.
  • carlom18
    carlom18 Posts: 174 Member
    There isn't a way. Just take the time and it'll come off slowly, but surely. This way at least it'll stay off
This discussion has been closed.

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